What's your preferred way of buying games? (digital/physical/physical digital)

Submitted ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨the16bitgamer@programming.dev⁩ to ⁨patientgamers@sh.itjust.works⁩

Ran across this in a discussion about Nintendo’s Virtual Game Cards and Key Cards.

For myself it’s

Physical > Perpetual Digital (GOG) > Key Cards (Switch 2) > DRM Digital (Steam/PS3/Xbox 360) > Account DRM Digital (PS4/Switch/Xbox One) > System Locked Digital (3DS/Wii U) > GamePass > Streaming Games (Amazon Luna/Stadia)

For some context.

While Key Cards are digital they are not tied to hardware which means so long as the servers are still running the game can be downloaded and played… presuming no additional authentication is required.

DRM Digital is bellow that since services like Epic Games, and Steam still require re-authentication from time to time. Though Steam is getting better thanks to the Steam Deck.

GamePass is low because it is the same as Game Rental. You don’t own the game. Good to try never to own.

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shads@lemy.lol ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Sorry to come in a week later with a hot take.

But something I think would be awesome, probably for GOG, would be for them to offer a backup service where they will put your GOG library onto M-Disc Blurays in 100Gb increments for a nominal fee, say $40 plus postage.

For people who game preservation matters to it would be a solid statement. I doubt many of us can afford a salt mine to store the disks in but they are still about as long lived as you are going to get in a format that’s accessible for a home user (let’s be honest those disks will likely outlast the drives to read them with).

For GOG the costs would be fairly minimal and since M-Disc is a pretty valid backup media they would gain that capability from a business perspective.

Just something that sprang to mind while I was reading this thread.

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sanity_is_maddening@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
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- the16bitgamer@programming.dev ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I have a bit more nuances on that. Some games are Steam or console only, so what I do there is get them deeeply discounted so that if I was to loose them the hit isn’t much. Otherwise GOG like digital services, or physical all the way.
  
  The other way I look at it is for systems like the Switch or 3DS, where once it’s cracked open. The game has a very high chance at being emulated easily with wider compatibility than it would otherwise.
  
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Oka@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
You guys are buying games?

Yo ho (60%) > Steam (35%) > any other digital platform if its exclusive (1%) > Other (4%)

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- Flagstaff@programming.dev ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago
  I try to do things legally, especially given how many giveaways go on across Epic, Prime, etc. now. Why not? Also, malware scary.
  
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0li0li@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Any format that ensures I can play it today or in 10 years. Most games I buy on Steam and when the GOG or pirated verson gets released - even if it’s years later - I get a backup.

Recently Last Epoch, which currently has a full offline mode, might not stay that way for long with the acquisition from whatstheyface, so I still play the Steam version but have a fit girl I know provided me with a nice fallback if I ever need it…

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- Flagstaff@programming.dev ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago
  
  have a fit girl I know
  
  Can she do a handstand with one hand?
  
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Coelacanth@feddit.nu ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
90% of the games I play are bought on Steam or GOG, 9% are free Epic giveaways and the last 1% is Alan Wake 2 which I had to buy on Epic because it’s not available anywhere else and I wanted to support Remedy.

I know the discussion about digital only, and I think game preservation is a great cause. There is definitely a danger with digital only. However, for me as a user having a digital library is just unbeatably convenient. My whole library is easily browsable and sortable and with modern high speed fiber internet any game I feel like playing or re-playing is just a click and a few minutes away.

I don’t really have any desire to go back to having to constantly fuck around with discs when I want to play something.

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- Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I agree about the fact that having digital games is great for just launching them without leaving your chair, but managing your digital storage space can be a bigger hassle in some cases
  
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  - Coelacanth@feddit.nu ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Yeah install sizes are getting outrageously large these days, I can see you running out of space if you like to keep many games installed and ready to return to. I never run into it because I am typically “install -> play through once -> uninstall”, but it could definitely be a problem yeah.
    
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any1th3r3@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I’m with you on most of your priority list, but would swap perpetual digital with physical.
I would also point out that physical need to be fully on disc, otherwise they’re at best as good as game key cards (doesitplay.org is very useful there).

I think PC gaming is unfortunately the only “sustainable” option nowadays to allow for both native games and emulation to run today or in a decade. With how console manufacturers, especially Microsoft, have been aggressively pushing digital, there’s little hope of having any physical backcompat in consoles moving forward.

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- the16bitgamer@programming.dev ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Agreed on the “whole game needs to be on disc”. Was the reason I never bought Reignited Trilogy on Switch physically. No point since it was basically a digital game anyways.
  
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caut_R@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I don‘t even have a disk drive anymore. I prefer digital nowadays since I like to swap around games and don‘t wanna have to swap the media every time as well. It kinda bothers me with my Switch, but I still prefer physical there so I can resell.

In an ideal world I‘d like a physical copy of a complete game on my shelf where I don‘t have to use the physical medium to play it but can fall back to that in case a platform‘s failing or I want to resell it… However all that would work.

In the current reality it‘s just Steam all the way for convenience‘s sake. Gabe was right, it‘s all about service quality. If Steam ever pulls the rug from under my feet, I’ll basically have no games anymore though lol

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tomkatt@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Digital everything. Books, games, movies, TV. I don’t want a bunch of physical stuff cluttering my space.

I do prefer things I can archive to my NAS whenever possible though. I make exceptions for gaming with Steam, but all my books, video, and music are locally stored, I don’t like streaming services as an indefinite solution.

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- the16bitgamer@programming.dev ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  In my view Physical games are digital game in containers that we’ve yet to figure out to open. Digital games almost always have a DRM on top of it, and rarely can be used outside of their designated environment. My GameBoy, and PSP games have had a very long shelf life thanks to emulation and the various methods to back them up.
  
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  - tomkatt@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I’ve got games ranging from PS2/PS3 going all the way back to the NES and Atari 7800 on my NAS. The PS3 stuff is hit or miss, but everything PS2 and down is great to play today via emulation.
    
    For modern digital games, it’s a toss up. Some have DRM, some don’t. There are games you can buy digitally on Steam, install, and just copy out the folder somewhere else, zip it, and move it to another system to play, it won’t care. Others, DRM prevents it. GOG is good for the DRM free stuff.
    
    Funny enough, I have Madden 08 for PC. Bought it on Amazon many years back. Installed updates, patched the exe, and it’s good to go. It’s zipped on my NAS and completely portable. Last year I even installed it on my Steam Deck, works perfectly, just extract to a folder and launch the game. And it’s still way better than the modern Madden games.
    
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Drbreen@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Digital for the last 20 years.

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MystValkyrie@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Physical these days is mostly dead, so long-term I’ve been going for DRM-free digital. GOG, 7digital or ripping via Foobar2000 for music, ebooks.com plus Calibre, and MakeMKV for DVDs. Steam’s DRM is lenient enough where I’m okay with using that.

I do still like physical for some things. I prefer physical for PS3 games versus digital because most games read straight from the disc, and install sizes a significantly smaller if you go that route. That generation of gaming really respected your hard drive. I don’t like buying a disc and then still having to install 100 GB to my hard drive – at that point, why bother?

I also prefer buying CDs and DVDs physical because I can display them in my collection, but also easily back them up in digital form. Best of both worlds.

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e0qdk@reddthat.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Preferred: DRM-free download (e.g. GOG, JAST)

Will consider: Steam (if not encumbered with evil crap like Denuvo, Enigma, Ubisoft/EA shitware, …) – rarely preferred in some cases (e.g. the game is stupidly big)

That’s it. Those are the only ways I buy games in practice in 2025. (The last time I bought a physical copy of a game was pre-COVID…)

I have a Steam Deck and an ancient (offline-only) Win7 computer that is surprisingly still usable. If I can’t run a game on one of those, it might as well not exist as far as I’m concerned.
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spankmonkey@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Steam, but that is because of my approach to games and I do understand it is leasing/renting another not literally buying.

While I do enjoy going back and playing some games, most tend to lose my interest due to newer and improved versions of similar games. Nostalgia only goes so far when janky controls get in the way.

I also like a wide variety of games, but they are hit and miss on personal enjoyment. So what I prefer to do is buy several on a sale and then as long as one works out I came out ahead! This generally means I can check out games that are 5 to 10 or more years old at a heavy discounts due to being patient. I don’t even bother refunding the ones that don’t work out because most are a few bucks and if a few bucks let’s me check something out then I’m fine with that.

For that cheap pricing I get all the benefits of digitally distributed games that are reliably updated to run on new hardware, can re-download them at any time with no limits, get the other hit and miss benefits like friends and forums and other stuff. They don’t take up physical space, have regular updates, and addressed all the issues I had with gaming back in the 90s/early 2000s when still buying physical games.

I see it like a rental with no return date. I would probably quit gaming if steam goes under or changes enough to make it less convenient. Still hope that physical distribution sticks around for those that prefer it, and that other distribution sources like GoG stick around and are successful for both completion and for those who have different priorities for gaming.

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- Flagstaff@programming.dev ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago
  
  buy several on a sale and then as long as one works out I came out ahead!
  
  A.k.a. Humble Bundle?
  
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  - spankmonkey@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago
    Similar concept, but I select individual games as the humble bundles tend to have a high ratio of games I know won’t work for me.
    
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Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Steam Deck: Steam for most games because of ease of use on the Deck and what they provide to the Linux world, GOG for old games with no achievments (I’d buy more from them if they were more Linux oriented, but I also understand they can’t do everything)

Playstation 5: physical except for a few exceptions as I want to be able to resell games I don’t like

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slimerancher@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I don’t think I have thought about it like this. I prefer digital, but it’s purely from ease of use point of view.

For me it’s where do I want to play this game? My preference is: Handheld console -> Home Console -> PC

As for PC, Gog used to be my goto platform a long time ago, but then reduced their Linux support and Steam started focusing on it, so I switched to Steam 100%, but I play very little on PC, so practically speaking this doesn’t make too much of a difference.

So, with current systems that I have, this becomes something like: Switch -> PlayStation -> Steam.

As for the discussion between owning and renting, I used to be a collector, but with time, don’t care about “owning” games too much, for 90% of the games I’ll play it once for 30-40 hours (or 90-100 hours if it’s a long RPG) and then probably never touch them again, at least not for next decade or so, so whatever let’s me enjoy that legally, at the cheapest rate, is fine for me.

I do have some opinions about Gamepass, but that is how it effects the ecosystem, so not sure if it’s relevant here or not.

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psx_crab@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I always buy discounted pc game, and the choice is virtually 0 these day, so purchase directly from steam is my preferred way.

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lunarul@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I prefer digital for convenience, I never liked the idea of a game not being playable unless there’s some physical media inserted in my device (be it CD, cartridge, or whatever). I only buy physical when getting collector’s editions.

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mohab@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I have no interest in any kind of physical media. GOG and Itch.io do not carry any of the games I'm interested in, so I only buy through Steam.

I like Steam, I just wish we were buying the games, not leasing them. Bullshit system and I hope it changes one day.

I only buy games on deep discounts—I spent only $100 over the course of the past 4 years to buy 14 games.

If I'm curious about a game but not sure if I'll like it, I sail the high seas to try it before committing.

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hisao@ani.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I prefer Steam because I like having achievements, gallery of screenshots (I take hundreds/thousands of them for games I enjoy), backlog with notifications when items go on sale, all the forum/groups/review stuff, etc. If I were to pick purely politically, I would definitely choose GOG though. I wouldn’t ever consider Key Cards as that’s just the worst of both worlds (physical vs digital). Physical rarely makes sense, but I’d consider it for some super unique releases, for example a box release with usb of Morrowind + OpenMW + bunch of modpacks preinstalled including stuff like Tamriel Rebuilt etc + some nice physical stuff in the box like artworks or huge worldmap to put on your wall. But I can’t imagine a release like this being even remotely close to legally possible (because it’s a huge salad of licensed properietary paid content and opensource/cc free content under a variety of licenses).

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Asparagus0098@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I prefer buying digital games that are either DRM-free or have Steam’s DRM.

I keep a backup of the games that I enjoy so that I can play them even if I end up losing a way to download them. For games with Steam DRM, I can just use a remove the DRM myself and use a Steam emulator if I ever lose access to Steam.

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Redkey@programming.dev ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
My main concern is getting games in a form that I can store locally for 20 years and then reasonably expect to boot up and play. A secondary concern (ever since I moved permanently to another country) is going digital whenever possible because shipping stuff long distances is expensive. I had hundreds of physical books that it pained me to give away, but it simply wasn’t economical to move them to my new home. I kept my physical games, CDs, and DVDs, because they’re mostly thin discs and air-filled plastic cases (often replaceable once paper inserts have been removed) and I was able to bring them over affordably.

Over the last few years I’d say I’ve slowed down on physical retro collecting and only bought a couple dozen retro console games. More often I sail the high seas looking for them because morally there’s no sane argument decades after release that paying $50-100 to a private collector or dealer today has any impact on the developer’s or publisher’s profits in terms of secondary or tertiary sales. The physical game media and packaging have ceased to be games and have become artifacts, almost independent of their content, like other vintage or antique items. Of course that doesn’t apply if the game has been rereleased in more or less its original form, in which case I either buy it (if the price is reasonable) or don’t play it at all (if the price is unreasonable). I actually have such a game in digital storage that I’ve been meaning to play for years, and I learned that it’s quite recently been put up in GOG, so now I’m morally obligated to buy it if I still want to play it, heh. Luckily for me the price seems fair.

And speaking of GOG, the majority of my recent game purchases have been split pretty evenly between GOG and itch.io; about 95%. I basically haven’t bought anything directly from Steam for more than a decade. I understand that many games there are actually DRM-free, but I’m not interested in trying to research every game before I make a purchase. If each game’s store page indicated its true DRM status clearly (not just “third-party DRM”), I’d consider buying through Steam again. As it is, whenever I learn about an interesting game that’s on Steam, I try to find it on itch.io or GOG, and if I can’t, I generally don’t buy it; I’ll buy it on Steam only if it looks really interesting and it’s dirt cheap.

Whenever I look at ~~buying~~ “leasing with no fixed term” anything with DRM, I assume that it will be taken away from me or otherwise rendered unusable unexpectedly at some point in the future through no fault of my own. It’s already happened to me a couple of times, and once bitten, twice shy. I know that everyone loves Gabe Newell, and he seems like a genuinely good guy, and he’s said that if Steam ever closed its doors that they’d unlock everything. However the simple fact is that in the majority of situations where that might happen, the call wouldn’t be up to Gaben, even for games published by Valve.

So yeah, I may put up with DRM in a completely offline context, but in any situation where my access terms can be changed remotely and unilaterally with a forced update, server shutdown, or removal, that’s a hard pass from me.

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sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Depends on the platform:

PC - digital is my only option

Console - physical so I can loan/swap w/ friends

If I could trade digital games as easily as physical, I’d go digital every time.
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piefood@feddit.online ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I only buy digital, since I don't like having a lot of "stuff" around. GOG is my goto, since I can just back them up to my server. I only tolerate Steam for special purchases that aren't offered on GOG, probably ~2 games a year.

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AceFuzzLord@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
For older titles, depends on if I can find them at a good price. At one point I got a bundle of old Popcap titles for a lot cheaper on Steam than if I bought each individual game on physical disk.

Though, if it’s not being sold on any digital stores, I’ll see what the price might be like on eBay and if I deem it too expensive ( varies depending on how I feel about the franchise and a few other factors ), I’ll just not both getting a physical copy, if you catch my drift.

I don’t mind physical copies of games at all, for a good price. Especially for older titles. It’s why I bought Morrowind and Oblivion GOTY edition at a thrift shop. Prices were low and they’re games that are high enough quality for me to consider playing.

No comment on newer titles because this is the patient gamer community.

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Lfrith@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I’m PC so been digital with it being the only option that is usually available.

If I was still playing on console I’d be going physical all the way assuming it’s not download codes.

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replicator@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
As a person who grew up with consoles, PS1, PS2, and the Xbox360. There was nothing better than waiting from my uncle to get me a new game, or going out with my father to get some 360 discs. Sure, for the 360, they only sold popular releases, I’d see the same circulation of games at almost every store, but let me tell ya, the experience of having the disc in your hands, and begging my father to stop running errands so I can boot the disc up. I miss that experience.

I guess I’d go with physical, digital has never been that special to me. Ok I downloaded it, now I ran the exe. Cool.

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